Blackjack is the casinos' best moneymaker precisely because people believe the game can be beaten. Casinos are forever bemoaning their losses to card counters, and constantly changing their rules and dealing procedures to make their games tougher for these feared blackjack experts. Casino floormen, with increasing frequency, unceremoniously bar suspected counters from their tables. Promoting this paranoia is one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever developed. Not one person in a thousand has what it takes to make any significant amount of money playing blackjack, but hundreds of thousands of people have given it a try.

Card counting is not difficult for the dedicated practitioner, but few people are dedicated enough, and, as most players discover the hard way, there is more to being a successful card counter than the ability to count cards.

In cynical moments, I see the American public being taken for a ride by the strange bedfellows of the casino industry and the blackjack systems sellers. A tremendous effort is being made to convince people that card counters can get rich quick at the casino blackjack tables.

I don't mean to imply that all blackjack system sellers are trying to bilk the public—I am a system seller. I'm the author of nine books on casino blackjack, and have written operating manuals for two home computer blackjack programs, and articles on card counting for numerous magazines, and I've acted as informal consultant for a number of high-stakes international counting teams. I know the game can be beaten. I have played professionally for many years myself, and I know many full- and part-time card counters who regularly take the tables for piles of money. I know a few players who have made fortunes playing blackjack.

But the successful pros are few and far between. Their dedication to the game is beyond that of the average counter—they live and breathe blackjack. They devour every written word on the subject; they drill and practice until they count cards in their sleep. They know professional blackjack as a dog-eat-dog business.

Some blackjack system authors have been honest about their negative experiences at the blackjack tables. Most publishers, however, aren't so forthright, and the media in general isn't any better. It's not newsworthy to say, "Gambler loses money." Advertisements for blackjack systems promise everything from instant wealth to private airplanes and priced-to-move personal islands.

The average player has no way of knowing that the author of his system objects to the publisher's advertising claims, and sometimes to large portions of the ghostwritten text. In fact, publishers, promoters, and imitators have abused the most respected names in the field of blackjack.

Compound all of this misinformation about card counting with the dozens of books on the market that teach totally inaccurate count strategies, "money management" systems, strategies so weak as to be a complete waste of time or too difficult for anyone to master, and you can begin to fathom why card counting is the best thing that ever happened to the casino industry in this country.

• Blackjack – A Little History (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History Part2 (0)
• A Blackjack Card Counter Is Born (0)

I am a card counter. I got hooked on blackjack thirty years ago to the point of obsession. I love the game; there's nothing as exciting as beating a casino and walking out the door with more money in your pockets than when you entered. To walk in with the ability to beat the house, knowing the casino will do everything it can to stop you, gives a James Bond, Spy-vs-Spy flavor to the experience. The heart races. The feeling is not unlike that which I recall from my childhood when all the kids in my neighborhood would choose up sides for "cops and robbers." I'd forgotten how much fun it was to hide, sneak, run, hold your breath in anticipation…

Then I discovered card counting. It took me a year of weekend trips to Nevada, some dozen books on card counting, and another half-dozen books on mathematics, to learn that I didn't have enough money to play the game professionally. Prior to the 1980s, many blackjack authors seemed to neglect the risk factor, and didn't provide much guidance on bet-sizing according to bankroll. The counter's edge is small, and the fluctuation of capital is huge. If you don't have enough money, you won't last.

I'll never forget my first trip to Nevada as a card counter. I was driving a car that was 15 years old and over the hill—it guzzled gas and leaked oil. Winding up through the Sierra Nevada Mountains on my way to Lake Tahoe and the casinos of Stateline, I had to stop twice to add a quart of oil and give my overheated wreck a rest. I was with a friend, and we were splitting the cost of the trip. The way we figured it, after paying for gas, oil, motel room and meals, we'd have about $55 left over to play at the $1 blackjack tables.

When I pulled over to the shoulder of the road for my second oil stop, I said to my friend, "It's hard to believe that we're on our way to becoming wealthy. I hope my car makes it up this damn mountain."

"A year from now," my friend responded, "you'll look back on this day and laugh. This is just the beginning."

One year and a dozen trips to Nevada later, I thought back to that first trip and I laughed. I was again on my way to Stateline, this time alone. My car had long since broken down, beyond repair, and I didn't have the money to replace it. I was traveling by bus, and the way I figured it, if I was ahead by twenty-five bucks the first day, I could get a motel room and stay for another day. Otherwise, it was back to the Greyhound station that night. About that time I started to realize I'd been fooling myself into believing I'd get rich easily at this card game.

• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History Part2 (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History (0)

A small number of card counters have still managed to profit from the game of blackjack. Two factors contribute to the success of the present day counter. First of all, he knows the basic math of the game—he has studied valid systems and has a realistic attitude about his long and short run expectations. Secondly, he knows the basic psychology of the casino environment. He understands how casinos detect counters and disguises his play. He is an actor; if he senses heat, he leaves, maybe returning later when different casino personnel are running the show. He doesn't take chances. There are lots of casinos.

Although four decades have passed since the first valid card counting system was published, many casinos still offer beatable blackjack games, and the math of card counting is easier than ever. The systems presented in this book are among the easiest-to-learn professional level systems ever devised. This does not mean that you can learn to beat the game of blackjack in an hour. If you are serious about playing for profit, you should plan to spend quite a bit of time studying and practicing. I will say this, however: Any person with average math ability could learn to count cards at a professional level.

The difficulty of making money as a card counter isn't in the arithmetic, but in the psychology. Some people are good actors; some are not. Some are adept at reading attitudes and manipulating people, and some aren't. To make it as a card counter, you must often be friendly to dealers and pit bosses, while at the same time deceiving them into thinking you're just another dumb gambler. Most card counters who experience any long-term success thrive on this exhilarating espionage-like aspect of the game. You must be part rogue and part charlatan. You must be cool under pressure. You must have enough money behind you to weather losing streaks without financial worry. You must thrill to beating the casinos at their own game. If you're not in it for the fun as much as for the money, you'll never make it as a counter. Card counting is boring, once mastered. It's work. Few who try card counting stick with it. It's like most games—chess, tennis, even the stock market; many people "know how to play," but only a few become masters.

I realize that most of the readers of this book will not go on to become masters of blackjack strategy. With this in mind, you'll find many simplified, albeit less powerful, methods that the casual player may use to win at the blackjack tables. I will also attempt to provide clear explanations of the more powerful techniques so that the casual player will at least understand how and why the advanced systems work. By understanding these concepts, a beginning player who has not developed the skill to apply them will, hopefully, realize his limited abilities, and will not entertain false visions of himself as an unbeatable player.

One thing you must remember: Casinos don't give money away; you have to take it. And contrary to appearances, casinos are holding on to their money with both fists. You've got to be slick to take them on for high stakes, and walk away with your shirt.

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• Blackjack Card Counting Part2 (0)
• Blackjack Card Counting (0)

Thorp's first winning strategy was based on counting fives. He recommended betting heavily when they were depleted, and also playing a slightly different strategy when no fives were in the deck. His next innovation—upon which most winning card counting systems in use today are based—was called the "ten-count." In this system, tens and non-tens were counted separately. Larger bets were placed as the proportion of tens to non-tens in the deck became larger.

The ten-count system, as Thorp created it, was not easy to learn or apply in a casino. It required keeping two separate "backward" counts, and computing the ratio of tens to non-tens prior to betting and strategy decisions. Thorp played his system with what today would be considered a wild betting spread, sometimes jumping from a table-minimum bet of a dollar to a table-maximum of $500. Casinos were unaware of the power of Thorp's system, especially when they saw some of the "unusual" plays he made—like splitting 8s vs. dealer up-cards of tens and aces—and many continued dealing their single-deck, hand-held games to him down to the last card. Players able to use Thorp's system had an enormous advantage over the house, and players capable of following even a crude approximation of the strategy could win big if they used even a moderate betting spread in the deeply dealt single-deck games that predominated.

Once the Vegas casinos realized a legitimate winning system was being employed at their blackjack tables, they took drastic action, changing the rules of the game. This was in 1964, eight years after the first publication of the relatively accurate basic strategy, and two years after the advent of Thorp's Beat The Dealer.
The rule changes did not last long because, to the casinos' dismay, players stayed away from the tables rather than play against the new rules.

Casinos began losing a lot of money. So, bracing themselves for the worst, they changed back to the original rules.

The worst never came; in fact, the opposite occurred—blackjack became the most popular table game in U.S. casinos. Everyone, it seemed, believed they could beat the game, but few put in the time and effort to learn a legitimate system. Many blackjack systems were sold that were not mathematically valid, and players who did have valid systems often had no understanding of normal fluctuation. They overbet their limited bankrolls and tapped out before they ever had a chance to see the long run profits. Most importantly, casinos learned to recognize card counters by their playing styles.

Card counters jumped their bets suddenly, they paid inordinate attention to everybody's cards, they were quiet, they concentrated, and they didn't drink or socialize. They were often young collegiate types who didn't fit in with the normal run of tourists and vacationing businessmen.

Once spotted, a suspected card counter would be silently observed by the pit boss or "eye in the sky." If suspicions were confirmed, the dealer would be signaled to "shuffle-up" on the counter. If the suspect changed tables, the "heat" would follow him. If he did not leave the casino, he would be asked to leave the blackjack tables, and ultimately ordered to leave the casino. Thus, the casinos weeded out the few competent players and let hoards of fools who thought they could beat the tables with sloppy play and invalid systems play to their hearts' content.

• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History (0)
• A Blackjack Card Counter Is Born (0)

Little is known of the original blackjack counting systems. In Beat the Dealer, Ed Thorp discusses a number of the first systems developers who had colorful names like "Greasy John" and "Stem Smitty." They had privately worked out crude but effective blackjack strategies that they used to win their livelihoods from the Las Vegas blackjack tables.

Until the early sixties and the publication of Dr. Thorp's book, most casinos felt that blackjack systems were like all other gambling systems, a lot of bunk. Prior to Thorp, the only "card counting" system that was recognized by the casinos as valid was "casing the aces," in which a player would markedly increase his bet (say from $5 to $500) in the second half of the deck if no aces had been dealt in the first half. Crude as this counting technique was, it was effective and the casinos knew it. Unfortunately, it was extremely easy for the casinos to detect. Because it was such a weak method, and because the players who used it rarely followed anything resembling proven basic strategy, a huge betting spread was necessary for the system to gain an advantage over the house.

Then, in 1956, a group of mathematicians led by Roger Baldwin tediously applied the methods of statistical analysis to the game of blackjack and developed a basic strategy which they published in a technical journal for mathematicians. This strategy, if followed rigorously, would narrow the house edge, making blackjack close to a break-even proposition for the player over the long run. Though a colloquial version of this paper was later published in book form, few gamblers took notice. Gamblers wanted winning systems, not "break even" systems.

One person who took particular note of this technical paper was Dr. Edward O. Thorp, a mathematician. He saw that Baldwin's strategy had been devised on old-fashioned mechanical adding machines, but he had access to what, in the early sixties, was a sophisticated computer. He wrote a more precise program than had been used by the Baldwin group, and subsequently developed a more accurate strategy.

Blackjack is a difficult game to analyze mathematically because the depletion of the deck constantly alters the makeup of the remaining cards, constantly altering the probabilities of winning or losing. It occurred to Dr. Thorp that using a computer he could analyze just how the makeup of the deck affected the possible outcomes of the various hands. His method was unique. He wrote a program to analyze the best strategy and what a player can expect in the long run, assuming various cards had been removed from the deck. He noted that the player's chance of winning was dramatically increased when fives left the deck. In fact, to remove any of the "low" cards—2, 3,4, 5, 6, or 7—worked in the player's favor in varying degrees. On the other hand, if tens or aces were removed, the player's chances were badly hurt.

• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History Part2 (0)
• A Blackjack Card Counter Is Born (0)

When the cash-off-the-top has to go for protection, mob-operated casinos have to resort to "special measures" to insure profits, that is, to cheat. Gimmicked roulette tables, loaded dice that are switched in and out of the game, and "mechanics" (card sharks) that deal blackjack, are some of their instruments. With honest casinos (an oxymoron?), house percentages are already putting two strikes on the player, a gaffed casino's crooked game just about guarantees the sucker in an illegal casino a sure-thing strike-out.

Should you patronize illegal gambling operations? When it comes to casinos, the answer is a resounding NO! As for those of you out there who insist on betting on the nags, as well as you retards who throw away your money on numbers, I have to give a qualified Yes. Street-corner bookies will give you a better bang for your buck, as their odds are shorter than the odds of the track and OTBs. As for the numbers, the state will give you a flat-out rip-strong in Greenwich Village. Chinatown is reported to have a dozen or more, but they offer a menu of strange table games and cater strictly to a Chinese clientele.
Through the years I've had my share of experiences in illegal casinos. As a kid, when I'd go up to the Catskills with my family, I'd gaze in wonder at the magical machines with their colorful whirling wheels offering cherries, lemons, and bells, and that would from time-to-time pour out torrents of coins to the lucky player. What a thrill it was when I hit the jackpot for the first time, and was showered with what seemed then to be all the nickels in the world! I don't think even my thrill when I hit the Hacienda quarter progressive machine one Christmas day in Las Vegas for $5,000 could match that childhood memory.

In 1946, in Los Angeles for the first time, 1 couldn't resist the lure of going onto the Rex, a mob-owned gambling ship operating three miles offshore from Santa Monica. It was the first time I had ever seen a full casino in operation. (Outside of the slot machines, the Catskills only had roulette wheels in action, and that, was only in the evenings.)
On the Rex I timidly tried my luck at the blackjack table but, feeling uncomfortable with the new game, I quickly retreated to the banks of slot machines, with less luck than my Catskill initiation of years before. Aside from its full casino, my main memory of the Rex is what appeared to be one whole deck of toilets. The mob was forced to install them in order to comply with some harebrained maritime law regulation that was passed at that time solely as a harassment ploy for gambling ships.

My next experience with clandestine casinos was in the 1970s. My then-girl friend had had a recent operation and decided that, with a little financial help from me, the hot baths in Hot Springs, Arkansas would be conducive to her recovery. On a whim, I decided to fly down with her and see what Hot Springs was all about.
To my surprise and delight, the city was dotted with illegal full off 500-to-l payoff, while your friendly local numbers bank will give you 600-to-l, also a shameless rip-off, but at least a better one than the state's.
Better yet stay away from nags and numbers. If you must gamble, hit and run at your nearest casino. You might even come home with some of their cash in your pocket, an unlikely scenario if you play Lotto, numbers, and nags.

And playing in illegal casinos has its hazards. This was vividly illustrated when the New York Daily News reported on October 5, 1998 that three gunmen burst into an around-the-clock illegal gambling club in Brooklyn, shot one of the dealers, and robbed the players of all their cash and jewelry.
One of the gunmen was captured but the other two were able to escape with the loot.

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• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• The Blackjack Game Today (0)

I frequently hear blackjack players in Atlantic City bemoaning the fact that Casino Control Commission regulations have mandated that all the casinos are required to deal blackjack from an eight-deck shoe. If they had their druthers, these players would choose a single- or double-deck game, with hand-dealt cards.

An ugly incident in the 1970s involving Frank Sinatra in Atlantic City illustrates the point. He sat down at a blackjack table and demanded that the dealer use a single deck and deal manually. The pit boss explained that this couldn't be done, but Sinatra made a scene and the pit boss caved in and permitted the dealer to hand-deal with a single deck. The shit really hit the fan, as the dealer, the pit boss, the casino—and Sinatra—were all taken to task for the transgression, and the casino was heavily fined.
Me, I'm delighted with the game the way it is dealt from the shoe. Sure, the odds are slightly more in the casino's favor with multiple deck action, but the peace of mind I have at the table, knowing I'm getting an honest deal for my buck, is well worth it. I no longer wager my money on non-shoe-dealt games.

When I started my casino prowling years ago in Las Vegas, there were no shoes for blackjack. The only shoes in use were at the baccarat table. All blackjack games were single- or double-deck affairs. There were times when I played all the hands at a table and, dammit, whatever I had, the dealer had better. I vividly recall once having a nice line-up of all 20s—and the dealer wiped me out with his 21.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that I was cheated, but I am saying that with what I've learned since, I can fairly say that I very well could have been cheated.
Let me tell you what happened. I am in the book trade, and so as a yearly ritual, when the booksellers' annual convention comes around I make it my business to attend. One year, one of the major publishers featured a biography of Nick the Greek, one of the legendary gamblers of the mid-Twentieth Century. As a gimmick at the publisher's booth, they had a magician doing card tricks and demonstrating how he could manipulate the cards in blackjack. He shuffled the cards and had someone cut them. Then, to my amazement, he told the audience that he would deal four hands of 20s and deal himself a blackjack, and specifically with a red King and a black Jack. He then proceeded to do it!
Being suspicious by nature, I figured his deck was gimmicked, so I went over to a cigar store in the hotel and bought a deck of cards, which I took over to the performer.
"Here, let's see you do it again with my cards."

He took off the cellophane and removed the Jokers. He shuffled the cards thoroughly and I personally cut the deck. "Like before," he announced. "I'll deal four hands of 20s, and a red King and a black Jack."
And damned if he didn't do it again—with my cards! Needless to say, that cured me forever of playing blackjack with a dealer who is tossing out the cards manually. It should also give you food for thought.

For no rational reason, I do not like to enter a blackjack game when a shoe is near its end. My preference dovetails with many of the Atlantic City casinos, who don't permit mid-shoe entry at the $25-and-up tables. This restriction, intended to thwart card-counters, strikes me as paranoid because most all Atlantic City blackjack games are played with 8-deck shoes, with the dealer cutting the shoe at least two decks back. No more than six decks are dealt before the yellow shuffle card appears. With a hundred or out my expenses, plus a few bucks extra for a couple of gourmet meals with my lady friend before flying back to New York.

Looking back at my forays in illegal casinos, I guess I was lucky that I got away cheap. How honest a clandestine casino may be is a moot question. There are problems and obstacles that an illegal casino has to contend with that an above-board casino does not, the main one being "the pad." In gambling vernacular, the pad is the payoff, the hefty graft that has to be funneled to public officials so they'll look the other way. You better believe the cash involved—and it's all cash—is no inconsequential sum. Depending on the size of the operation, the payoffs can extend from local cops on the beat all the way up to the Governor's mansion. In the 1920s, New York's Mayor Jimmy Walker had to leave office under a cloud of gambling-related scandal. In the 1940s another New York Mayor, Bill O'Dwyer, hastily resigned when investigators followed a paper trail of illegal gambling payoffs all the way up to City Hall.

• Blackjack Card Counting Part2 (0)
• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• The Blackjack Game Today (0)